‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come ’round right.

I have always loved that old Shaker hymn ‘Simple Gifts,’ but saw it in a new light lately and my love was renewed. I don’t get the time these days to listen to many Catholic podcasts, but one I listened to recently mentioned the old Shaker hymn in relation to repentance. Being the original tune which Sydney Carter took for his ‘Lord of the Dance,’ I had seen it in the light of Lord of the Dance. It’s all about dancing, dancing my way through every situation in life. But to paraphrase Ecclesiastes 3:5, there is a time for dancing and a time to refrain from dancing.

I don’t know what motivated Sydney Carter in his writing of Lord of the Dance. Some have accused him of syncretism and of a portrayal of Jesus more in line with Shiva – Nataraja (the Hindu dancing deity) than that of the Jesus of the Gospels. It seems to portray Jesus as some sort of pied piper, leading everyone on a continuous dance and not suffering in agony on the cross out of a pure love for a broken humanity. To be blunt about it, whatever it is, it is not very Christian. Dancing, by its nature, is often frivolous and lacks a certain seriousness. Carter wants us to imagine a ‘Jolly Jesus’ breezing his way through life’s turmoils, as if anything bad is just illusory. Sustaining jollity in all situations does not proclaim truth to those situations and is impossible for most people anyhow. We have the capacity to sustain serenity in all situations but not jollity. I am all for spiritual dancing outside of the liturgy – but encounter with God is a deadly serious business, requiring stillness and receptivity on behalf of those wanting to listen.

Rather than being too hard on Carter, dancing can express pathos and emotion in ways that words or song can’t – I’m thinking particularly of ballet here. But I don’t think Carter intended to portray Jesus as a performative dancer, in his teaching style. Dancing can be a very powerful expression of our love for God. I am still indelibly marked by my experience of being by the Western Wall in Jerusalem at dusk to welcome in Shabbat. The Jewish men participated in a large well choreographed circle dance – that seemed joyful yet serious in its praise of God. And then there is David dancing in front of the Ark of the Covenant as it takes up residency in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:9-15). An appropriate celebration, whereas dancing ‘with the devil on your back’ appears not so. To me, Lord of the Dance comes over as light hearted and even frivolous in its approach. And maybe that is how I received it years ago and enjoyed singing it during the lighthearted ‘pink cloud’ days of first receiving the faith.

Sydney Carter wanted to pay homage to The Shakers in adopting their tune. He saw that they adopted dance in their worship whereas the majority of Christians did not. The Shakers were a heretical and anti-Catholic sect that broke away from Quakerism in 18th century England. They believed that the second coming was immanent and that members should forsake marriage and live as celibates. Their worship could be described as charismatic and spontaneous, ‘shaking’ when they believed that the Holy Spirit was speaking through them. Dancing did not appear as a regular feature of worship until the height of Shakerism in mid-nineteenth century America.

And so back to the source…Despite their heretical impulses the Shakers would have had a keen understanding of biblical principles. ‘Simple Gifts’ in its turning, turning, illustrates the process of turning away from sin and turning towards God. Rather than ‘dance away the heartache, dance away the tears’ (to quote a Roxy Music song from 1979), ‘Simple Gifts’ is presenting the continuous motion that all Christians go through. Even in prayer and meditation there is a tendency to drift. I can be one minute contemplating the annunciation of God’s incarnate love and the next wondering if Arsenal finally have a team that can win the league (a hopeless line of thinking!) To pray continuously, as St Paul calls us to (1 Thess 5:17), is to continuously turn back to God. As the priest calls us to on Ash Wednesday, when placing the ashes on our forehead, ‘turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.’ Lots of turning to be done…until we come ’round right.

Putting Jesus first in every situation and circumstance calls us to do the right thing and to live virtuously. To keep doing it until we ‘turn ’round right.’ And how do we know that we have turned ’round right? Well, we arrive in the valley of love and delight! We arrive in the well grounded valley where truth and beauty is evidently all around us. Whatever it looks like, it has the personal touch of God’s love for each one of us and is something worth turning towards. Whatever it is, we can rest in the assurance that God will make it so much more than we can ever imagine.

And if we find ourselves away again from that place, then we keep on turning. Turning – turning …. allowing God to receive our repentant hearts, never giving up on ourselves in striving to live holy lives. It really is good to go back to the source. To rediscover the message of God, not to overcomplicate things but to turn and receive what truly is a simple gift of love from the creator who made us and wants us to return to his fatherly embrace.